1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to fingerprint card holders and, more particularly, to a card holder which allows the card to be bent so that rows of prints can be placed on the card successively without disturbing the spaces for prints contained in other rows.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of fingerprinting and identifying persons by their fingerprints is well known. Both ink and inkless methods of taking a person's fingerprints are in widespread use. Either a colored ink or a colorless reagent is applied to the persons fingertips and subsequently the fingers are rolled (or pressed) onto a clean recording surface, such as paper, to deposit the ink or reagent on the surface in a pattern corresponding to the fingerprints. In the inkless method, an additional chemical or reagent is applied to the surface to develop the print so that it is visible. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,623 assigned to the assignee of the present application.
Fingerprint cards have been standardized by many governmental agencies such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Such standardized cards are of uniform size i.e. 8".times.8" and are arranged with separate rows of spaces for the individual prints of each hand and a bottom row for the prints of the thumbs and the four fingers of each hand taken simultaneously.
To take a person's fingerprints the cards have generally been placed on a table or the like. This has often resulted in movement of the card while the prints are being taken with the result that the prints become smudged. Small boardds designed to rest on a table have also been used in which an adhesive is carried on the board to releasably hold the card flat against the board. While the adhesive prevents the card from moving relative to the board and thereby aids in preventing smudging during the fingerprint process, it does not prevent the fingerprint chemicals such as ink from being accidently transferred from the person's hand to spaces reserved for prints of fingers not being taken at that time. To provide clear legible prints it is important to eliminate smudging and the transfer of chemicals to spaces not receiving prints.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,623 ('623), assigned to the assignee of this application, discloses a fingerprinting device having a flat surface for receiving a card and a pivotably mounted lever designed to engage the card at its edges and hold it against the flat surface. A portion of the card can be bent down to expose the top row or rows of spaces at a time. Other prior art card holders function in a similar manner. While the card holder portion of device of the '623 patent is an improvement over the prior art, it is expensive and somewhat difficult to use. There is still a need for a simple, reliable and inexpensive fingerprint card holder.